The present invention relates to process aids and more specifically the present invention relates to process aids for fluorosilicone polymers. Fluorosilicone compositions are well known at this time. Briefly, such polymers are obtained for heat vulcanizable silicone rubber compositions by equilibrating cyclic trimers containing trifluoropropyl substituent groups in the presence of an alkali metal hydroxide to result in, at the appropriate end point the formation of high molecular weight, fluorosilicone substituted gums or polymers having a viscosity anywhere from 500,000 centipoise to 200,000,000 centipoise at 25.degree. C. These polymers are then taken and they are processed in various metal equipment by adding to them fillers, compression set additives, heat agent additives, and flame retardants. Finally, the composition is cured by the incorporation of a peroxide in the composition and heating the resulting composition after it has been formed to the desired form at elevated temperatures to form a silicone elastomer. Such heating is usually in the order of 100.degree. C to 250.degree. C from a one to three hour period of time. The composition and hours of forming of such polymers is more fully described for instance in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,979,519, 3,179,619 and 3,002,951. The preparation of such polymers is also to be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,997,496, 3,937,684 and 3,974,120 which disclose alternate processes for producing these fluorosilicone polymers. In addition, in a recent innovation there have been prepared fluorosilicone substituted polymers in SiH olefin platinum catalyzed composition. The preparation of the fluorosilicone substituted polymers and utilization thereof to produce SiH olefin platinum catalyzed compositions is for instance to be found in Jeram U.S. Ser. No. 619,592. Briefly, such SiH olefin platinum catalyzed compositions comprise a vinyl terminated polysiloxane polymer having trifluoropropyl substitutent groups in combination with an extending or reinforcing filler or both, a hydride silane or siloxane and a platinum catalyst. In such compositions normally the vinyl siloxane base polymer is kept separate from the hydrosiloxane and the platinum catalyst is packaged with one or the other components with the filler being usually mixed into the vinyl containing polysiloxane. When it is desired to cure the composition, the two components are normally mixed and allowed to cure at room temperature over a period of time of 24 hours or longer or may be permitted to cure at elevated temperatures in a matter of seconds or minutes. Such elevated temperatures are in the order of above 100.degree. C. In any case, when such fluorosilicone polymers and specifically polymers having a viscosity in excess of 100,000 centipoise and more usually having a viscosity in the range of 500,000 centipoise to 200,000,000 centipoise at 25.degree. C are utilized. Such polymers when processed in the usual equipment so as to incorporate into them fillers and other ingredients by milling or mixing such polymers tend to stick with great tenacity to metal surfaces and even glass surfaces, thus, making the processing of such polymers very difficult. In addition to such stickiness, such fluoro substituted polymers and gums or compositions have a great tendency, due to their stickiness, to shear on mills when they are processed to mix the desired ingredients in them.
Accordingly, to facilitate the processing of such fluorosilicone substituted polymers and gums it is highly desirable to incorporate in them from say 1% to 10% by weight of the total composition of a process aid so as to improve the processability. An example and a disclosure of such process aids for fluorosilicone polymers is for instance to be found in Talcott U.S. Pat. No. 3,006,878. As pointed out in that patent Talcott appeared to solve the problem of processing fluorosilicone polymers by incorporating into fluorosilicone substituted polymers and gums two process aids, in combination. The first process aid was perfluoro-alkyl substituted organo silicone compound containing at least 0.25% by weight silicon bonded hydroxyl groups and the second process aid is an organic compound inert to the fluorosilicone polymer and is a benzene soluable organo silicone compound, said compound component having a boiling point above 100.degree. C. This combination of process aids solved to some extent the processing problems of fluorosilicone polymers. However, it was not an advantageous method of resolving the stickiness problem. One reason for this was that it was expensive to produce a fluorosilicone substituted polymer process aid as is desired for the first process aid defined in the Talcott Patent. In addition, this patent required not a simple addition of one process aid, but the Talcott Patent required the addition of two process aids in which even the second process aid was indicated to have a fluoro substituent groups. Accordingly, it was highly desirable to find a simple and inexpensive process aid for fluorosilicone polymers. Accordingly, it is one object of the present invention to utilize an inexpensive process aid for fluorosilicone polymers.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a non-halogenated process aid which can simply be added to the fluorosilicone polymers to decrease their stickitiveness to processing equipment to an acceptable degree.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide for a simple and economical process aid to decrease the stickitiveness of fluorosilicone polymers to processing equipment.
It is yet an additional object of the present invention to provide for a non-halogentated process aid for fluorosilicone polymers and fluorosilicone gums, that is polymers having a viscosity of at least 100,000 centipoise and more preferably for polymers and gums having a viscosity in the range of 500,000 to 200,000,000 centipoise at 25.degree. C. These and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by means of the disclosure set forth herein below.